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Forum:I was just wondering...
Ok, so I was just wondering...what is it with dragons being virtually extinct? Yes, there was a war. Yes, it does make sense for power to be a rare and valuable thing-the books would be no good if dragons were as common as most house pets. But, honestly-how does one kill a dragon? We have here an armored monster, taller than a house, that breaths fire, can work some form of magic, has huge teeth and claws (and is very aggresive), flies, AND typically has a hell-on-wheels dragon rider to protect it. These dragon riders are almost as bad-they are the world's most powerful magicians, the world's best swordsmen, the best archers, and are functionally immortal. Did I mention that these dragons may exist on a higher plane of intelligence than the large majority of the human race? So, Mr. Paolini makes up an excuse for how all the dragons can be dead-there was a war between them, and they all died. But, it's fairly safe to assume that there were several hundred dragons out and about before the fall, even if they don't multiply at a particularly fast rate-they do live a long time, which should help with population growth, and there are very few creatures out there stupid enough to try to kill one. So, we've got a multi-hundred (probably multi-thousand) population of dragons, and 14 dragon riders that want to kill them. Not exactly the best odds in the world. We've seen what one young (and therefore weak) and relatively inexperienced dragon rider can do against the various races-even the most deadly ones, like, say, the elves-so it's save to assume that any reinforcements Galbatorix could have recruited wouldn't have stood a chance against an army of much older (and therefore stronger) and more experienced riders. So, I'm assuming that all the fighting was done by Galbatorix, and the Forsworn-14 riders. Ok, let's just assume that these 14 have been somehow superpowered, and can each fight several other riders at the same time without too much trouble. But then, what happened to the ones they didn't kill? Look at the statistics for wars-there's always survivors. Usually, in a battle, less than a third of either army is destroyed. Even at the Alamo, there were-what? 2 Texan survivors? I'm assuming there were more dragons around than there were men defending the Alamo, and the riders couldn't possibly have been surrounded-so some of them must have survived. We only know of one-Oromis. Where are the others? Another continent, maybe? We have no explanation. I'm just wondering how they could have possibly died out. Saphira doesn't seem to have any trouble finding stuff to eat, and can apparently go for long periods of time without eating at all, so it can't possibly have been starvation. There have been no major natural disasters in Alagaesia to explain the sudden change, so I'm assuming they didn't die out like our dinasaurs, either. This has been weighing on my mind for some time, now-I would appreciate it if someone could help me with the answer. Maybe the fourth book will offer some sort of explanation... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.117.249.162 (Talk ▪ ▪ ) 20:06, Jun. 6, 2011. Please sign your comments with ~~~~. :Well, Oromis said that the riders were taken by surprise and were unprepared for an attack. The riders were also widespread, so the forsworn would not have had to fight too many riders at a time. The riders were also arrogant in their power so probably did not confront Galbatorix with,all their forces until he had gathered many eldunari. Even if the forsworn attacked a city with 50 or so riders, surprise would allow them to kill at least ten, so then each forsworn would only have to fight 3 riders at a time. :You also have to consider how the tide of battle can change. If the forsworn attacked unexpectedly, panic could have quickly caused chaos and allowed the forsworn to slaughter the riders. The forsworn were also using black magic so would be very powerful. :Morzansson 21:44, June 7, 2011 (UTC) ::Another thing to consider is that as soon as a rider dies, so does the dragon bonded to them, most of the time, in that case a suprise attack from THIRTEEN riders, that where originally thought to not be alligned with Galbatoix, would enable them to kill many riders and by extention, in most cases, their dragons. Also, I doubt that they killed the riders and dragons through all out battle alone. They might have also used techniques such as assassiation, or even the drug to suppress their power. I'll bet that most of the full on battles, didn't happen untill after Gabatorix had gained many eldunari, and given some to the forsworn, making each of them much more powerful than an ordinary rider. I'm also sure that Galbatorix also had some sort of army other than the forsworn, and you can't forget that he also had an extensive knowledge of "Dark secrets learnt from a shade", as well as the Ra'zac, and Durza. And I'm sure that he found many other warriors, and magicians who either supported his cause, or had them swear loyalty to him in the ancient language, maybe both. I know it sounds a lot like the war that is taking place in the books currently, but thats how wars are fought. As for the wild dragons, I'm sure that with the aid of the eldunari, Galbatorix, and the forsworn, would be able to overcome even a small group of wild dragons. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 173.10.30.118 (Talk ▪ ▪ ) 16:08, July 15, 2011. Please sign your comments with ~~~~. :::yes but even though the riders would be spread out, the wild dragons lived in groups. Plus the riders dragons were practically domesticated compared to the wild dragons (glaedr actually mentions this in eldest) so the forsworn could'nt have taken on the wild dragons and the riders dragons. :::but the thing that strikes me is that when the dragons banished the names of the forsworn's dragons could'nt they have just killed them. Shuratagal 19:02, July 15, 2011 (UTC)